Swing jig



June 27, 1950 A. H. BOWLZER SWING JIG Filed June 16, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. H. BOWLZ ER ALFRED ATTORNEY June 27, 1950 A. H. 'BOWLZER SWING JIG .3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 16, 1947 INVENTOR. ALFRED H. BOWLZER 10 BY ATTORNEY June 27, 1950 I BOWLZER 2,512,787

SWING JIG Filed June 16, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

ALFRED H. BOWLZER I ATTORNEY tion.

Patented June 27, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE swme JIG Alfred B. Bowlzer, South Gate, cam. Application June 16, 1947, Serial No. 754,948

a claims. (on. 77-63) and shapes of working plates may be used therein,

depending on the type of work to be done.

In many types of jigs heretofore used, and of which'r am aware, it is diflicult to place pieces to be worked on therein, and also diflicult to remove same after they have been drilled or operated upon. Moreover, such placing and removing of the work pieces consumes a'substantial amount of time and tires the operator, unduly, and it is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide a quick clamping or acting jig of such character that the time for placing the work piece in and removal thereof from the jig is greatly reduced, and such operations are much easier to perform than in said jigs heretofore used.

In the present invention this is accomplished by providing a jig having a work base or base plate, for supporting the work piece, and a top plate which is adapted to. clamp said work piece to the base plate, and which is adapted to be moved to a position whereat it is out of the way of the operator, so that such work piece may be quickly positioned or loaded. on the base and quickly removed after the drilling and/or other operations have been performed on said work piece. More particularly, the top plate is adapted to move toward and away from the base for clamping and releasing the work piece and to further be swung out of the way of the operator for removal of the piece work upon and reloading of the jig.

A further object of the invention is t9 provide a device of this character wherein the top plate may be quickly moved from its out of the way position to its clamping position, or vice versa, by the simple movement of an actuating member or lever.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a device of this character having means for locking the top plate in its clamping posi- Other objects of the invention are to provide a device of this character which is relatively simple in construction and'operation and relatively simple to manufacture.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be brought out in the following part 0! the specification.

Referring to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a tool embodying the present invention showing the top plate positioned over the base, as when a work piece is clamped between said parts;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side view. partially in section, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, showing the position of various parts when the top plate is in the lowered or clamping position;

Fig. 4 isa partialsection, similar to that shown in Fig. 3, showing the position of said parts when the top plate is in an elevated position;

Fig. 5 is a partial section taken on line 5-5 oi Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the device with the top plate swung to its out-of-the-way position;

Fig. 7 is a side view of the same, partially in section;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 1;

- Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the base plate taken on line I0-|ll of Fig. 6;

Fig. 11 is an end elevation, partially in section showing a locking arrangement of the invention, whereby work pieces of various thicknesses may be accommodated;

Fig. 12 is a sectional view, taken on line [2-42 of Fig. 11 with the mechanism slightly rotated in a clockwise direction; and

Fig. 13 is an enlarged diagrammatic view to show-the various parts of the locking mechanism and the action of said arrangement of Figs. 11 and 12.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown a jig, indicated, generally at II, having a work base or base plate l6 which is adapted to be secured to a drill press or the like, in any well known manner. This base may be designed in any suitable shape and/or size, depending upon the character of the work to be done. Formed integrally with the base is a raised portion I! which serves to support the pallet, which is described more fully hereinafter.

Adjacent one corner of the base plate l6 there is a kingpin it having its lower end press fitted into an opening provided therefor in the base i6,

and upon which a quill I9 is slidably and rotatably mounted. The upper end of the quill has a reduced portion 20 which has threads 2| adjacent its upper or freeend. A top plate 25 is attached to the quill for movement therewith, said top plate having an opening 26 adjacent one corner thereof for reception of the reduced portion 20 of the quill. The plate 25 rests ona shoulder 21 at the lower end of the reduced portion 20 and said reduced portion and plate 25 have respective slots for reception of a key 28 to prevent rotation of the plate relative to said quill. A quill nut 29 is screwed onto the threaded end 2| of the quill for securing said top plate and quill together, there being peripheral openlugs 30 on diametrical sides of the quill nut, for reception of a tool for tightening or loosening said nut.

The quill is provided with an annular groove 3! adjacent its lower end, in which is slidably received a block 32 pivotally mounted on a pin it secured in a plate or crank arm 34. The plate 54 is attached to a shaft 35 journaled in a bearing 35, formed integrally with a housing member 51 having inturned flanges 38. with threaded openings therein for reception of Allen screws or the like 39, whereby the housing member 31 is secured to the base plate It.

The quill is provided with a. longitudinally extending slot 40 adjacent its lower end, said slot being located above the annular groove 3|. The side walls 4| of the slot 40 are chamfered or bevelled so that the slot flares outwardly. The slot is adapted to receive the tapered free end of a pin 42 which is also fixed in the plate 34. It is to be noted that the pin 42 has a greater radius than the pin 33 and block 32 relative to the axi of the shaft 35, said pin 42 and block 32 cooperating to provide the required vertical and rotating movements for the quill l9 and plate 25, as will be hereinafter described, these movements being effected by means of a crank 43, having a handle 43a, attached to the outer end of the shaft 35. The crank is attached to said shaft 35 by any suitable means such as a key 44, or by any other well known means.

The crank has a pair of oppositely disposed lugs 45 and 45 adjacent its point of attachment to the shaft 35, each of said lugs having a threaded opening therein for reception of adjustable screws 41 and 45 respectively, which are adapted to engage a stop 4! formed integrally with the housing member 31 so that the rotative movement of the crank 43 is limited. Lock nuts 50 are provided for the screws 4'! and 48 respectively. to secure the same in their adiusted p sitions. A housing member is provided to complete the enclosure of the quill operating mechanism (above described) said housing member 5| being attached to the housing member 31 by means of screws 52 which are threadably received in lugs 53 formed integrally with the housing member 31 There is provided means for properly positioning the top plate 25 over the base and said means includes a locating pin 55, the lower end of which is press fitted into an opening provided therefor in the base it, the upper end of said pin 55 having a reduced diameter part 55 which is adapted to be received in the bore 51 of a bushing 58 which is press fitted into an opening provided therefor in the top plate 25. The opening in which the bushing 58 is received is located in the corner portion of the top plate 25 adjacent its point of attachment to the quill, and said bushing 58 is provided with a cut-away portion 59 so as to provide a. depending flange 60 which is engageable with the reduced diameter portion 55 of the pin 55 when the top plate is swung into position over the base.

In preparing the jig for use inconnection with a. particular drilling operation, holes are drilled in said top plate at the exact location required to drill the work piece and the usual drill guide bushings SI and 82, Fig. 2, are placed in these openings in the well known manner.

Referring further to Fig. 2, a pallet 63 is secured to the base !6 in any well known manner, and has a work locating pen 64 secured in an opening provided therefor by means of a press fit. The work piece, indicated generally at 55, is used only by way of example of one type of piece that may be worked upon and includes a body portion 65a and a boss 66 which has a hole 66a therein, in which is received the pin 54. The body 65a of said work piece 65 rests flat on the pallet 53. As shown, the body of the work piece 55 tapers to a. rounded end from the end having the boss 66 and the pallet is provided with locating lugs 10 between which the tapered end of thework piece is received when said work piece is placed on the pin 64. Thus, said work piece is securely held against accidental displacement.

A filler block or pressure plate 51 is secured in any suitable manner to the under side of the top plate 25 so as to be in a position to engage the upper end of the work piece boss 65 when the plate 25 has been swung into position over the base i6 and moved downwardly for clamping the work piece in the jig. At this time the guide bushings 5i and 62 are exactly located over the part of the work piece to be drilled.

The lower ends of the guide bushings GI and 52 are spaced upwardly of the work piece, as at H in Fig. 2, thus providing chip clearance. The pallet and base are also provided with openings 12 and 13 which are axially aligned with the guide bushings GI and 52 when in the drilling position, and the base 16 is also provided with a recess I4 in the under side, said recess communicating with the openings 12 and-l3 to permit chip disposal.

The operation of the above described mechanism is as follows:

Assuming that the jig is empty, the handle is moved to the position shown in Figs. 6 and 7. At this time the top plate 25 is in the position shown in Figs. 6 and 7, having been swung or pivoted outwardly approximately degrees from its position when located over the base it. At the same time the quill and its actuating mechanism are in the position shown in Figs. 7 and 8. It is to be noted that the free tapered end of the pin 42 is positioned adjacent the lower end of the slot 40 and the point of said pin is in the path of the adjacent slot wall 4| in a position to prevent the plate 25 from being inadvertently swung over the base It.

The work piece 65 is then placed onto the pin 64 and so positioned that its tapered end is received between the lugs 10. Thereupon the crank is rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 7. Upon initial movement of the crank in this direction the pin 42 moves toward the right and across the slot 40 so as to engage the right hand side of said slot. Upon further movement of the crank in the same direction, the pin 42 will rotate the quill and top plate in a counterclockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 6. Assuming the crank 43 has-been moved counterclockwise to approximately the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the quill l8 and its operating mechanism will be in approximately the positions shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 5 it will be noted that the pin 42 has rotated the quill on the kingpin l8, and in Fig. 4 it will be apparent that said pin 42 has moved upwardly in the slot 48. Also, the block 32 has moved somewhat to the right in the annular groove 3|, as viewed in said Figs. 4 and 5, and said block has been rotated downwardly somewhat and moved the quill downwardly a corresponding amount. However, due to the'position of the block 32 relative to the axis of the shaft 35, said downward movement is not great.

At this time the quill and plate 25 have made their full anti-clockwise rotative movement and are stopped from further rotation by engagement of the upper end 58 of the locating pin 55, with the flange 80 of the bushing 58, this locating said top plate over the base.

Upon further movement of the crank in the same .direction, the pin 42 passes out of the slot 43, while the block 32 slides further toward the right in said groove 3| but will now efl'ect downward movement of the quill and top plate 25 until the pin 33 of said block 32 will be in substantially vertical alignment, or dead center, with respect to the axis'of the shaft 35, as shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted that the pin 42 has now moved downwardly to a position, Fig. 3, whereat it is in substantially the same horizontal plane as the pin 33. I

As the top plate 25 moves downwardly, the pressure plate 81 engages the upper end of the work piece and flrmly clamps same to the pallet. It is to be understood, of course, that the pallet 83 and pressure plate 5'! are of such thickness that when the top plate 25 has been moved to its lower or clamping position, the pin 33 is at dead center with respect to the shaft 35 so that the top plate is securely locked against upward moveme nt. At this time the top plate is also held against rotative movement by the entrance of the upper end of the reduced diameter portion 55 into the bore 51 of the locating bushing 58. This locking arrangement may be used where the work pieces are of a substantially uniform thickness.

. The apparatus is now ready for the drilling operation, and upon completion of this operation and removal of the drills from the guide bushings 8| and 82, the crank is rotated in the opposite or counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 7. This effects lifting of the top plate 25 from engagement with the work piece to a position whereat the upper end of the reduced diameter portion 58 is clear of the bushing 58 and upon such clearance the top plate is automatically rotated to its out-of-the-way position shown in Figs. 6 and 7. When the top plate is in this position, the jig may be reloaded.

It is to be noted that the top plate rotates approximately 90 degrees on the kingpin l8 and that the crank is also rotated approximately 90 degrees. When the crank is moved to release the work piece and move the top plate to the out-of the-way position, said top plate is raised just enough to clear the top of the locating pin 55 and said plate is raised and moved to its out-ofthe-way position by the approximately 90 degree movement of the crank.

The foregoing actuation of the jig may be repeated, and due to the relatively short crank movement that is required to move the top plate between its out-of-the-way position, into its clamping position, and back again, a great saving in operating time and economy is effected the invention, the housing member 31 is provided with a boss to which an annular cupshaped casing or drum 8| is secured by means of screws 82. I

The shaft 35 extends outwardy of the drum 8| and is arranged axially therewith, crank 43 being rotatably mounted on said shaft and secured thereon by means of a nut 83 threaded on a reduced diameter portion 84 of said shaft 35. A washer 85 is disposed between the nut 83 and crank 43 and is held against rotation by a pin 86 which extends into a recess provided therefor in the shaft 35.

Within the drum 8| there is disposed an eccentric hub 81 which is secured to the shaft 35 by means of a key 88 which prevents said eccentric hub from rotation on said shaft. The

hub 8'! is provided with a flange 8111 having a notch 81b in the periphery thereof, having "end walls 810 and 81d. A locking collar 83 is ro tatably mounted on the eccentric hub 81 and said collar is provided with a notch 88 in which ,is received a flnger pin 9| which extends through the notch 81b of the flange 81a, said pin also extending outwardly of the drum and is securedto thecrank 43. The flnger pin 9| has a reduced diameter portion 92 which is received in an opening provided therefor through the crank 43, and the outer end of said reduced diameter portion is riveted over at 93 so that the pin 9| is firmly secured to said crank.

In order to keep out dirt and other foreign matter from the drum, there is provided a washer 9|a, which closes the open end of the drum; The washer 8| a is mounted on a portion 8|b of the crank hub which is concentric with the drum 8|, and said finger pin 8| extends through an opening provided therefor in said washer.

The locking collar has a point or area 94 for engagement with the inner surface of the drum, and this point serves as a locking contact. The eccentric hub is provided with a recess 35 in which a spring 98 is received. The outer end portion of the spring 96 extends into a threaded bore 91 in the locking collar, said bore opening into the recess 95. A spring retaining screw 98 is threaded into the bore 81 for retention of the spring in operative position and this spring is provided to cause the locking collar to follow the movement of the crank when it is moved in clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 12, and keep the point 94 in contact with the inside of the drum throughout the clockwise movement of said crank.

It is to be noted that as the .point 94 moves along the inside surface of the drum, it scrapes or wipes said surface and then keeps it clear of foreign particles or material which would adversely affect the locking action of the mechanism.

Assuming the jig is in loading position, that is, with the top plate 25 moved to its cut er-theway position, movement of the crank in a clockwise direction as above described effects corresponding movement of the shaft 35 with a lag, which is hereinafter described, to swing the top plate 25 over the base plate I6 and eii'ect downward movement of said top plate and locking of same when it clampingly engages the work piece, as will be more fully described.

In Fig. 13 the various parts are diagrammatically shown, thepoint 'i04, indicating the axis of the shaft 35 and drum and line I indicating the radius of the internal diameter of the drum 0|. Point I06 indicates the center or axis of the eccentric hub 81 and the locking collar, which axis is located to one side of the radius I05 and is spaced therefrom in a clockwise direction. The line I0'I shows the amount of eccentricity of the hub, and the line I08, between the center I05 of the eccentric hub 81 and the point 94 of the locking collar 89, indicates the radius of said locking collar with respect to said point 94.

of the hub flange 81a and moves the hub 41 therewith and likewise the shaft 35, thereby causing the top plate to be moved to the closed or clamping position. Any tendency of the shaft 35 to move in the opposite direction instantly will be opposed by the locking contact 94, which will firmly engage the inside of the drum and hold said shaft 35 against said tendency. The greater the force tending to move the shaft 35 in the counterclockwise direction, the greater the clamping action, the lines of force between the shaft 35 and the point 04 being along the lines I01 and I08, the combined distance representedby the lines I01 and I08 being greater than the distance between the axis I04 and point 94 along the lines I05. From the foregoing, it is believed that it will be apparent that the mechanism will securely lock the plate against releasing movement at an infinitely variable number of positions within its operative range.

Should the crank be initially moved in a counterclockwise direction, the lost motion of the pin 9| in the slot 90 in the locking collar 09 will be taken up. Further movement of the crank will cause the locking collar 09 to rotate on the eccentric hub 81 in a counterclockwise direction a very slight distance. This will cause the point 84 to be retracted relative to the inner surface of the drum so that the locking mechanism is released. Thereafter, the pin SI engages the wall 81d of the notch 01b in the hub flange 81a to effect rotation of said hub and shaft 35. Further movement of the handle in the counterclockwise direction will cause the top plate 25 to be raised and moved to its out-of-theway position.

It will be readily understood from the foregoing that the locking engagement of the point 04 with the drum 8i will be effective at infinitely variable positions, and lock the top plate to suit various thicknesses of work pieces.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described, comprising:

a base; a kingpin having one end secured to the base, said kingpin extending upwardly from said base; a quill slidably and rotatably mounted on the kingpin, said quill having a longitudinally extending slot therein intermediate its ends, and

an annular groove; a top plate secured to said quill; a locating pin having one end secured to the base, said locating pin extending upwardly from said base; means for said top plate adapted to engage the free end of the locating pin when said top plate is rotated from an out-of-the-way position to a position over the base and vice versa; a rotatable shaft having its inner end positioned adjacent the quill; an actuating arm secured to said shaft for rotating same; a lever secured to the shaft adjacent its inner end; a pin secured to said lever and so positioned as to operably engage the slot in the quill for rotating same on the kingpin; and means interconnecting the lever and said annular groove in the quill for effecting longitudinal movement of the quill on the kingpin toward and away from the base.

2. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein the last mentioned means is movable to a position whereat it is at a dead center position with respect to the shaft, so that the quill is held against movement away from the base.

3. A device of the class described, comprising: a base; a kingpin extending upwardly from the base and having one end secured to said base; a quill slidably and rotatably mounted on the kingpin, said quill having a longitudinally extending slot therein, intermediate its ends, and an annular groove adjacent the lower end and below said slot; a top plate secured to said quill; a locating pin having one end secured to the base, said 10- cating pin extending upwardly from said base; means for said top plateadapted to engage the free end of the locating pin when said top plate is rotated from an out-of-the-way position to a position over the base; a rotatable shaft having its inner end positioned adjacent the quill; a lever secured to the shaft adjacent its inner end; a pin secured to said lever and so positioned as to operably engage the slot in the quill for rotating the same on the kingpin when said shaft is rotated; means interconnecting the lever and said annular groove in the quill for effecting longitudinal movement of the quill on the kingpin toward and away from said base; an actuating arm for effecting rotative movement of the shaft; and locking means adapted to lock the mechanism so as to prevent movement of the quill and top plate away from said base, said locking means being adapted to effect such locking of the quill and top plate at an infinite number of positions within its range of operation.

ALFRED H. BOWLZER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 692,871 Lemp Feb. 11, 1902 765,431 Lee July 19, 1904 771,490 Palmer Oct. 4, 1904 1,701,644 Stull Feb. 12, 1929 1,805,443 Walters et al. May 12, 1931 1,833,695 Swartz Nov. 24, 1931 1,865,434 Eggert July 5, 1932 1,874,504 Greer et al. Aug. 30, 1932 2,414,347 Woerner Jan. 14, 194'? 2,414,348 Woerner Jan. 14, 1947 2,438,692 Broecker Mar. 30, 1948 

